136 Bed of fossil Shells on (he Banks of the Forth. [Aug. 



Farther up the Forth towards Stirling the same hed of shells 

 occurs at a lower level, and much mixed with sand. The shells are 

 broken into smaller fragments, and the hivalved species are seldom 

 found entire. In Clackmananshire these shells rest on the out- 

 goings of the floetz strata, of sandstone and slate clay, as stated 

 by Mr. Bald, Mem. Wem. Soc. vol. i. p. 484. 



From these facts I am disposed to conclude that this bed of fossil 

 marine shells has been thrown up during some violent agitation of 

 the sea, when the waves rose at least 33 feet above their ordinary 

 limits. 



This conclusion receives support from the appearances presented 

 by beds of marine shells which have been thrown up by the sea 

 during violent tempests. Thus on the shore to the westward of St. 

 Andrews there is a bed of shells a little elevated above high water 

 mark, and covered with the blowincr sand which forms tiie links. 



' cz 



This bed is nearly a mile in length, and about two feet in thickness, 

 and presents the same general appearance of confusion which we 

 have noticed in the bed of shells of the Forth. It is almost 

 entirely composed of broken and detached valves of the lutraria 

 vulgaris irregularly huddled together. During gales of wind the 

 sea throws up at present a few of these shells, and in the time of a 

 violent tempest (or what is termed by the fishermen a grund-storm) 

 considerable quantities are cast up. These shells are found furrowed 

 deep in the sand beyond low water. During the gale which brought 

 these shells ashore the bed of sand must have been removed by the 

 tide, and then the shells themselves transported to the shore. But 

 to effect this a tempest infinitely more violent than any of those 

 which have occurred for many years past must have happened. At 

 present I can procure no information concerning its date. 



Near Oo'ness, in Stronsa, Orkney, there is another bed of marine 

 shells, which has been deposited by the sea during a tempest. Tt 

 is described by Mr. Neill in his Tour through Orkney, p. 27. This 

 bed is elevated but a few feet above the high water mark. It is 

 entirely composed of detached valves of the pectunculus pilosus and 

 pecten maximus, of a large size. Similar beds are found in the 

 island of Sanda. These shells are not littoral, like those which 

 constitute the beds at the Forth and at St. Andrews. They inhabit 

 deep water, and must have been forced to the shore by a very 

 violent agitation of the sea. The natives of the island still remem- 

 ber this dreadful tempest, which occurred about 30 years ago, and 

 which threw up in the course of a single night several hundred 

 cart-loads of these pelagic species. 



We have very few accounts left us of great inundations of the 

 sea which have taken place upon our coasts. Boece, in his Ilistoria 

 Scotorum, book iii. gives us a short description of the effects pro- 

 duced by a violent tempest which took place about the year 1266. 

 " Anno regni Alexaudri tertii scptimo et decimo, tanta inundatio, 

 nimio plu> solito maris estu per tempestates alveos excedente, facta 

 est, prosertim Tai et Forthcie fluviorum, ut mulias villas ac j 



